I've been reading all these reports about Delta Airlines, and most people say that the reason this company treats people badly is because they got low-rate fairs on cheaptickets.com or some other cut rate website. Well, let me share with you how they treat their preferred customers.
My stepfather is one of their preferred customers. I don't know what you call his designation, but he can sit in the lounge while waiting for a flight and he gets to board first and he is always getting first class upgrades, if he's not booked already on a first class flight. Recently, my mother drove down to Georgia to visit my 15-year old sister and I and decided she wanted to take my sister back home with her. So my step-father called Delta and booked a ticket to fly my sister back to Macon, Georgia after her visit with my mother. Right before my mother left, she also decided to take my 3 year old daughter with her, so my stepfather called Delta again and bought a ticket for my daughter to return as well.
We decided that it would be better for my sister not to have to change planes with a three year old, so he booked my daughters ticket to Atlanta and I would just drive up and pick them both up at the airport.
When he booked my daughters ticket, he was informed that he would have to pay an unaccompanied minor fee when he got to the airport since the two tickets weren't booked at the same time and they weren't booked for the same destination. Even though my sister was going to be picked up in Atlanta and not continue on to Macon. So no problem. He agreed.
Well, when my mom went up to Philadelphia to return the girls, she waited in line for about 45 minutes and a Delta Ticket agent started pulling people out of the line and referring them to the kiosk if they were pre-reserved. My mother told him she couldn't get her ticket at the kiosk because she had an unacompanied minor and had to pay an additional fee and take care of the registration, but he insisted that she could do it at the kiosk. So he made her do it at the kiosk, and when she got there, the attendant told her she couldn't register an unacompanied minor at the kiosk and to wait for someone to help her. So she waited for ten minutes and asked the attendant again who told her to continue waiting. After another ten minutes she again asked the attendant who told her she would have to go to the end of the original line and register at the desk.
So back to the end of the line and another hour before she can sign in. So she gets to the desk, registers my daughter as an unacompanied minor and is off to the gate. When she gets to the gate, the attendant gives her the unacompanied minor badge and takes the tickets. Then he notices my 15-year old sister and tells my mom she doesn't have to pay the fee because my sister is with her. My mother tells him he does have to pay the fee because the tickets were booked seperately and for different locations, even though they will both be picked up in Atlanta. The gate agent tells her it doesn't matter and he writes her a note to give the original ticket agent to refund the fee. Then he takes away my daughters little badge and takes away her unacompanied minor rating in the computer.
So mom takes the note to the ticket desk, waits in line, and sees the original agent, who tells her the gate agent is wrong. She does have to pay the fee. Now, I think the fee is like $50 - $90, not a whole lot, but it is the principal of the thing at this point. My mother told the lady that the gate agent advised her that my daughter was not an unacompanied minor, and he even took away her status in the computer, and she wanted her fee back. The ticket agent said no. So my mom asked to speak to the supervisor. After hearing the story, the supervisor told her he would certainly refund her fee. So he went in the back to return her check. While he was in the back, my mother saw him talking to the ticket agent she had been dealing with. So the supervisor comes back and says that he will not be refunding the fee due to some guidelines that were no longer in effect, but were in effect when she bought the ticket. At this point, after being told different things by different people, and even different things by the same person, she decided to call the corporate headquarters.
Meanwhile, at Atlanta, I went to pick up the girls. I went to the Customer Service Desk and told them I was picking up a 3-year old unacompanied minor and I needed a pass to pick her up at the gate. I was informed that there was no such thing as a 3-year old unacompanied minor. So I showed her the iteneraries for my daughter and my sister, along with the notation for the unacompanied minor fee. She told me that if my sister was with my daughter I would not be allowed a pass to pick them up because my sister was not considered a minor. So I told her I was advised that my daughter was travelling as an unacompanied minor and I was required to show ID at the gate to get her. Both my daughter and my sister were expecting me to pick them up at the gate and would not know what to do if I was not there. If they weren't going to give me a pass, could they please send someone to the gate to escort them to me? So they gave me a pass. I suspect they were too lazy or understaffed to send someone to escort them.
Well, I got the kids without a problem. Even though my mother paid the fee, they never asked to see any identification from me. I drove down to the Macon Trailer Port, which is the Delta Airport in Macon. It consists of a Delta Ticket Trailer and a Baggage Claim Tent. No Kidding.
My stepfather called corporate office several times and was informed that he owed the fee even though my daughter was never listed as an unacompanied minor on their flight. Finally he threatened to withdraw his company's patronage from their airline so they cut a check and sent it to my daughter instead of him.
So the point is, Delta doesn't care about their "preferred members" any more than they care about their low fair ones. But if you spend enough time and energy complaining to enough people, they will eventually fix their own mistake. But I will never fly Delta again.
Tina
Warner Robins, Georgia
U.S.A.
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